Brave pensioner tells of masked man terror

Woman screamed at burglar to leave

A TERRIFIED pensioner told how she screamed at an intruder to get out of her bedroom.

Retired nurse Geraldine Corrigan, from Dublin, was robbed while she was i n her house on her own at 6.15pm last Friday.

After getting up to investigate lights while she was in her bedroom, she came face- to- face with a man in a balaclava, standing over her looking down.

Ms Co r r i g a n s a i d : “I h av e a n underlying condition and I haven’t been out much since last March.

“I didn’t hear them come in as I have a little bit of deafness. He didn’t say anything. I thought I might be dreaming.

“I kept screaming at him to get out. I was terrified and felt very vulnerable.” The intruder ignored her pleas and instead went over to her dressing table and took her jewellery box.

Ms Corrigan said: “I didn’t know if the panic button was working as I hadn’t used it in 30 years. I had to keep logic. I think my nursing training kicked in.”

She waited to see if he left her house as she didn’t know if he was alone or accompanied but when Ms Corrigan felt it was safe to move she went outside and screamed at the top of her lungs for help.

Telling Joe Duffy on RTE Radio One’s Liveline yesterday about her terrifying exp er i ence, s h e s ai d a neighb our had seen an Audi car pull up and four masked men jumped out.

That person i mmediately raised the alarm and rang gardai.

Ms Cor r i ga n a d d e d : “My n e i g h b o u r s a n d family have and are being brilliant to me.

“My nursing background did help me to keep calm but it was terrifying.

“I didn’t press the panic button immediately but

I waited. I don’t know where I got the resilience from to deal with what was happening.

“I think I might have given them more of a fright as I think they didn’t expect anyone to be in the house.”

The gang stole some cash , her credit cards, driver’s license and various ot h e r i t e ms i ncl udin g her three nurses’ badges which mean a great deal to her.

Ms Corrigan explained she had nine l ocks on h e r d o o r w h i c h h a d double glazing but had not used the key to lock herself i n aft er pulling up the handle.

I kept screaming at him to get out. I felt terrified and vulnerable GERALDINE CORRIGAN RTE RADIO ONE YESTERDAY